PM Orban: We Refuse to Be Dispensable Pawns on the Imperial Chessboard + Video

Hungary's prime minister addressed the crowds gathered to commemorate the Day of National Cohesion.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Szilard Koszticsak)

As gloomy as the clouds over Central Europe are today, there is a glimmer of hope around the edges, according to Hungary's PM. We have now reached the point where the peoples of the Carpathian Basin finally want to be free and sovereign. "110 years ago, the peoples of the Carpathian Basin fought the Hungarians for their sovereignty. The war was fought by the Czechs, the Romanians, the Serbs and the Slovaks."

Today, the peoples living in this part of the world are making it clear to the great powers: we don't want war, 

he said. Peoples of the Carpathian Basin do not want to be dispensable pawns on the imperial chessboard, vassals that can be sent to war, said.  All this is stated the loudest by the Hungarians,  the members of the largest community in the Carpathian Basin, the prime minister emphasized.

In PM Orban's view, by now it has also become clear that the sovereignty of the peoples of Central Europe can be best defended not against the Hungarians, but in cooperation with the Hungarians. Therefore, "on the Day of National Cohesion not only we Hungarians must cling to each other, but the peoples of the Carpathian Basin", he stressed.

We need not only cohesion but also togetherness, he said. We must dream of a glorious future, he said, adding that those who propose that we should dare to be small commit a sin against the community of Hungarians, he stated. 

We Hungarians must urge cooperation and solidarity time and time again, and we must also rejoice in the successes of our neighbors,

the prime minister emphasized.

"Today, Central Europe is facing the same threat as it did 110 years ago. Yet another imperial interest wants to plunge us into war," Viktor Orban underlined. He highlighted that

war is always the outcome of human decisions, and today we must endeavor to accomplish what former Prime Minister Istvan Tisza could not manage to: prevent Hungary’s involvement in another European war.

"We elect the government, we have the powers, we Hungarians decide our own fate. We decide in the widest possible public, in national and European elections. Now we can do what we could not do 110 years ago.

the entire Hungarian community can say no to war in a clear, democratic framework,

the prime minister stated, adding that Hungary’s national government and the great majority and strength behind it do not facelift but restore, meaning we refurbish, rebuild, and reconstruct. We want to set right the dislocated time, we want to patch up the tear that has developed in the fabric of Hungarian time. 

"We take revenge on communism by stepping over it, by connecting the Hungary before the German and Soviet occupations with today’s Hungary. This is the original and profoundest meaning of the regime change," he said. Today's commemoration is an important and meaningful landmark in this mission, because those who come here will understand precisely what our generation's slogan means:

no match is over until we win.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivered his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the renovated Tisza Castle in Geszt (south-eastern-Hungary) on June 4, the Day of National Unity.

The prime minister  shared a photo of the venue on social media.

The inauguration of a national memorial at the home of one-time Prime Ministers Kalman Tisza and Istvan Tisza was announced by Construction and Transport Minister Janos Lazar on social media.

Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Szilard Koszticsak)